Corporate-Power

FTC Reverses Nationwide Noncompete Ban, Leaving 30 Million Workers Bound by Restrictive Contracts

| Importance: 8/10

Federal Trade Commission chair Andrew Ferguson, a Trump appointee, voted to scrap the nationwide ban on noncompete agreements, replacing comprehensive worker protections with case-by-case dispute resolution. The reversal leaves approximately 30 million American workers bound by restrictive …

Andrew Ferguson Federal Trade Commission Donald Trump regulatory-capture worker-rights-rollback corporate-power labor-exploitation
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Trump Administration Systematically Halts Regulatory Investigations into Musk's Business Empire

| Importance: 8/10

Trump administration systematically stalled over 40 regulatory investigations into Musk’s companies across multiple federal agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board, SEC, FAA, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Strategic leadership removals and quorum eliminations …

Donald Trump Trump Administration Elon Musk Federal Regulatory Agencies regulatory-capture corporate-power trump-administration elon-musk
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Jeff Bezos Purchases Washington Post for $250 Million

| Importance: 9/10

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos personally purchased The Washington Post and its affiliated publications for $250 million, ending the Graham family’s four-generation stewardship of one of America’s most influential newspapers. The sale marked a watershed moment in billionaire media capture, …

Jeff Bezos Donald Graham Washington Post Company media-capture billionaire-control corporate-power surveillance-capitalism
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Supreme Court Citizens United Decision Unleashes Unlimited Corporate Spending

| Importance: 10/10

Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that corporations can spend unlimited amounts on elections through independent expenditures, enabling creation of Super PACs and dark money networks. The decision dramatically reshaped campaign finance, allowing corporations and unions to spend unlimited funds on independent …

Supreme Court Citizens United Federal Election Commission Justice Anthony Kennedy Justice John Paul Stevens dark-money campaign-finance supreme-court corporate-power first-amendment +1 more
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Citizens United Ruling Enables Unlimited Corporate Political Spending

| Importance: 10/10

Supreme Court 5-4 decision with Thomas and Alito in majority allows unlimited corporate political spending, directly benefiting their billionaire donors Koch, Crow, and Singer

Clarence Thomas Samuel Alito Citizens United Federal Election Commission campaign-finance corporate-power judicial-capture dark-money democracy-erosion +1 more
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Clinton Healthcare Reform Dies After Insurance Industry Lobbying Campaign

| Importance: 9/10

Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell declares the Clinton administration’s Health Security Act dead, with the bill never coming to a vote in either chamber of Congress. The failure represents a devastating defeat for comprehensive healthcare reform after an intense lobbying campaign by …

Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton Health Insurance Industry Health Insurance Association of America Pharmaceutical Industry healthcare regulatory-capture lobbying insurance-industry corporate-power +1 more
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Clinton Signs NAFTA Creating Corporate Tribunals to Override National Laws

| Importance: 9/10

President Bill Clinton signs the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law, creating the first major free trade agreement to include Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions binding developed nations. NAFTA’s Chapter 11 establishes corporate tribunals that allow …

Bill Clinton Al Gore Robert Rubin NAFTA Corporate Lobbies Mexican Government +1 more nafta free-trade corporate-tribunals isds investor-state-disputes +3 more
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Lewis Powell Authors Strategic Memorandum for Corporate Institutional Capture

| Importance: 9/10

Lewis Powell mailed a confidential, strategic memorandum titled ‘Attack On American Free Enterprise System’ to Eugene B. Sydnor Jr. at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The document outlined a systematic plan for corporations to defend and expand their power by capturing courts, academia, …

Lewis Powell Eugene B. Sydnor Jr. U.S. Chamber of Commerce powell-memorandum institutional-capture strategic-planning corporate-power supreme-court +1 more
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